Sainz: Driver fitness suffering during shutdown

F1 drivers will feel the physical strain when the racing finally gets underway in 2020, McLaren's Carlos Sainz has warned.

Winter testing aside, the drivers have not been at full speed since the end of last year, and now most are stuck at home amid the global shutdowns.

Asked if that is a problem, Spaniard Sainz answered: "It affects us a lot - especially the neck.

"As much as you try to train it at home with a harness or something, it is impossible to generate the g-forces that you feel in the car.

"The circuit they choose for the first race will greatly influence how the drivers cope after so many months without driving," he added.

It appears as though the Red Bull-promoted Austrian GP could be the scene of the first races of 2020 at the beginning of July.

"It is not one of the hardest circuits," said Sainz, "but we will suffer in the fast corners.

"If the first race was Hungary or Singapore, many drivers would end the race on the brink of collapse," he added. "People cannot imagine the stress that the body goes through during a grand prix, and the only way to get in shape to drive a Formula 1 car is to drive a Formula 1 car."

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